Crac des Chevaliers, Crusader Castle, Syria. Extras as Crusaders rehearse before filming a TV recreation for a costume drama in the castle.

Photo: Seamus Murphy

Crac des Chevaliers, Crusader Castle, Syria. It was the Crusader knights of around the middle of the 12th Century that largely built and expanded the Crac into the form it exists today. T.E. Lawrence, or "Lawrence of Arabia" simply called it "the finest castle in the world."

Photo: Seamus Murphy

Island of Arwad, off Tartus. A Syria ship worker engages in maintenance in the port of Tartus.

Photo: Seamus Murphy

Writer Patrick Symmes in Syria.

Photo: Seamus Murphy

A needle of rock to hold the drawbridge above it at Qalat Saladin, the Fortress of Saladin.